The present invention is in the field of oil well equipment and is more specifically directed to means for preventing the theft of valves and other expensive equipment from oil and gas wellheads.
Wellheads for oil and gas wells frequently include expensive valves and accessories which are worth many thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, it is a simple matter for a person having experience with oil field equipment to remove the valving and other equipment from a wellhead in a few minutes for purposes of theft and subsequent resale. Moreover, the problem of wellhead theft has increased in recent years due to the higher cost of the equipment and the large number of production wells located in remote areas not readily susceptible to continuous surveilance. The theft of such wellhead equipment is frequently effected by the thief driving up to the well in a pick-up truck or the like, turning off the main valve and removing the nuts and bolts from the connector flange assembly for the remaining components which are then placed in the truck and removed from the scene in four or five minutes. When one considers the fact that valves such as those employed in high pressure wells can easily exceed $25,000.00 in cost, the problems facing petroleum producers from potential theft of wellhead equipment are easily appreciated. The policing of oil and gas fields is extremely difficult due to the fact that wells are frequently visited by maintenance workers who remove valving and other equipment in the normal course of their employmental functions and the actions of the thief, even if observed, are usually not noticed as being out of the ordinary.
Prior known devices have been suggested for preventing theft or malicious damage to various types of equipment such as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,185,049; 1,192,342; 2,357,777; 2,511,906; 3,185,336; 3,291,148; and 3,776,412. However, devices of the foregoing types are not applicable to the protection of wellhead equipment. For example, protective shrouds and the like formed of conventional steel are easily cut with a torch so that they do not provide any substantial amount of protection against theft.
Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method for preventing the theft of wellhead equipment.